Stormont Parties 'Talk Policing'

The SDLP Leader and Foyle MP Mark Durkan will head a party delegation to meet with the North's First and Deputy First Minister today to discuss British PM Gordon Brown's policing and justice financial offer.

The delegation will meet Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness at Stormont Castle today at 12noon.

The top Executive Ministers are also to meet the Ulster Unionists and Alliance as well as the SDLP at Stormont castle.

It comes after Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness held a series of intensive meetings with the Prime Minister on Wednesday.

They discussed the financial package for the devolution of justice.

Prior to the noon meeting, Mr Durkan said: "The SDLP clearly wants to achieve devolution of the remaining policing and justice powers to the Assembly, sooner rather than later."

He said that the SDLP Policing Spokesperson Alex Attwood took a motion to the Assembly Executive Review Committee this week proposing that the offer be made public without delay, because we didn't want to see it dragging on.

"We want to give other parties the opportunity to show some urgency," continued Mr Durkan.

He also said they are "deeply opposed to the plans to have the Justice Minister appointed "completely outside the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, namely inclusion according to democratic mandate".

"This is not just because we are the party who will be discriminated against and denied the rights of our mandate in this instance.

"The record shows that we are opposed to all proposals to exclude parties in any way or to depart from the tenets of the Agreement," he said.

Mr Durkan was referring to plans to appoint a 'middle-of-the-road' politician, such as the Alliance Party Leader to the Justice and Policing Ministry.

(BMcC/GK)